


In A Moment

by sarahspoonhands



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Completed, F/M, Fluff, LadyNoir - Freeform, Marichat, adrienette - Freeform, some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-26
Updated: 2017-05-31
Packaged: 2018-10-11 03:22:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10453824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahspoonhands/pseuds/sarahspoonhands
Summary: “Why can’t I just tell him?” Marinette said, almost to herself.“Tell who, what, princess?” He said, brushing the hair back from her forehead.“Tell Adrien that I love him.”In which a drunk Marinette reveals too much to a certain Chat.





	1. A Mistake

Even though it was spring, the night air felt cold against Marinette’s bare arms. She rubbed them as she and Alya walked down the street. 

“Why did I think this dress would be a good idea?” She asked her friend. She was wearing a sleeveless red dress that hugged her body in a very flattering way, but it wasn’t very forgiving of the cold. 

“Why do you do half of the crazy things you do Marinette?” Alya replied with a chuckle. 

“Adrien.” They said in unison. 

Wearing red made Marinette feel more confident. When she was Ladybug, she could solve any problem, beat any akuma that Hawk Moth threw at her. When she was Marinette though, she couldn’t even talk to Adrien without stumbling over her words. 

Tonight was the night that all of that going to change. She was dressed to the nines for Nino’s birthday party, and she was determined to make something happen with Adrien. 

Marinette heard the music grow louder as they approached the club. The two girls walked past the long line and went straight up to the bouncer. 

“We’re Alya and Marinette, we should be on the list.” Alya told him. Marinette wished that she could be as sure of herself as her friend was. The bouncer nodded and let them through. 

Marinette blinked, adjusting to the pulsing blue and purple lights. Alya grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd of dancing bodies. Nino was near the back, dancing with a group of their classmates. Alya hugged him and kissed him on the cheek. It was cute, but it made Marinette a little sad. She wished she had something like that.

She said happy birthday to Nino and then started to scan the crowd for Adrien. She spotted a blonde ponytail and rolled her eyes. Of course Chloe was here. On closer inspection, she was with Adrien. 

Marinette froze. She didn’t want to talk to Chloe, and she definitely didn’t want Adrien to be hanging out with her. This was a nightmare. She wished she were as lucky as Ladybug all the time. 

She turned around to talk to Alya, but she and Nino were nowhere to be seen. She groaned. Looks like she would have to deal with this on her own. The crowd was getting thicker as more and more people poured into the club. 

Marinette started to make her way through the groups of people to Adrien. Her heart was racing and she was already breaking into a nervous sweat. He and Chloe were dancing. They looked like they were having fun. 

Chloe was always trying to win Adrien’s affection, but she was horrible. No one in school liked her except for Sabrina. Marinette wondered why Adrien was giving her the time of day. 

This was taking longer than she thought. She felt like she had said: “excuse me” at least 1,000 times. She waved to some people from her school as she passed them. When she looked back to Adrien, she felt like she was going to throw up. He and Chloe were kissing. 

Marinette felt her tears starting to well up. She stepped backward, away from them. This couldn’t be happening. She had felt so good about tonight. Her skin was heating up and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. 

“Marinette?” She heard a tiny voice say from her purse. She didn’t say anything to Tiki, she just turned around and pushed through the crowd to the back again, this time she wasn’t as careful about it. 

Her mind was spinning out of control. She wanted to go home and cry, but she didn’t want to have to pass Adrien and Chloe. Adrien and Chloe. She felt the tears start. It was a good thing she had worn waterproof makeup. 

Somehow, she found a seat at the edge of the bar. Why did it have to be Chloe? She was the worst person Adrien could have possibly chosen. Marinette couldn’t name one redeemable quality about her. 

Some people sitting next to her got up to dance, leaving their drinks sitting at the bar. Marinette glanced at them. She had never had much alcohol before, besides the occasional sip of wine. If she was going to spend her night alone and sad, she thought, she might as well make it interesting. 

She downed one drink. It felt like fire running down her throat. Next she had a shot, and that was even worse. She kept going until she had finished all of their drinks. 

She sat back down on her stool. Her brain started to feel funny. Her vision was slightly fuzzy. The music seeped into her skin. She put a hand to her forehead. She didn’t feel good. 

She stood up and wandered through the crowd for a while, trying to act happy and dance. Every time she thought about Adrien and Chloe though, her drunken brain replaced that sadness with anger.

Marinette started to shove through the crowd to look for Adrien. She was going to tell him what a mistake he had made. Adrien going to know that she was so much better than Chloe in every possible way. Things began to get choppy. One minute she was in the club and the next, she was outside. 

……..

Adrien Agreste stood in the alley next to the bar, trying to pull himself together. He had made some very stupid choices tonight, the biggest of which was kissing Chloe.

It wasn’t like he had started it. She had kissed him first; he had just kissed her back. He had no interest in her whatever and he shouldn’t have done it, but he wasn’t in a great place right now.

His father was being more and more distant; they had barely spoken three words to each other this week. Nothing he tried to win over Ladybug ever worked. She always brushed him off and it was getting exhausting. He had never wanted anyone more than her. He felt so empty, like no one cared about him.

So when Chloe kissed him, he let her, and then immediately regretted it. He didn’t know how to go back into the club and face her and tell her to back off. She was never going to let this go. He might as well just go home. Tonight had been ruined.

Adrien backed further into the alley as to not be seen. He summoned Plagg and transformed into Chat Noir. He vaulted onto the rooftop of the club and began to make the trek home. That is, until he saw a very drunk Marinette stumble out of the club. 

She didn’t look so good. Chat landed behind her. “Are you okay princess?” He asked her. Marinette turned around. Her eyes looked out of focus and the skin around them was red, like she had been crying. 

“Oh, it’s just you,” She said, a bit slurred, “Have you seen Adrien around here?”

Chat raised his eyebrows, “I think I saw him leaving.”

“Figures,” Marinette said, looking down, “He probably left with Chloe. Can you believe he kissed her?” 

Crap, Chat thought. Everyone had probably heard about it by now. He didn’t know how he was going to face everyone at school on Monday. 

Marinette looked at Chat and covered her mouth. Then she turned away and threw up in the street. He ran to her and pulled her loose hair back as she emptied the contents of her stomach. When she was done, she sunk down to her knees. She wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

“Had a little too much to drink, princess?” Chat asked her.

Marinette fell back so she was sitting on the ground. Tears flowed down her face. “Why can’t I do anything right?” She asked softly. 

Chat bent down and picked her up. Her head fell against his chest. “Let’s get you home little lady.” He said.

He didn’t try to run across the rooftops with her. He didn’t want to risk making her nauseous again. It wasn’t that far to her parent’s bakery anyway. Marinette was warm in arms. It felt nice, honestly. At least he had done one good thing tonight.

She looked up at him. “I’m sorry, Chat.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He said, flashing her a smile.

When they reached the bakery, Chat put Marinette back on her feet again, placing a hand around her waist for support. She didn’t even swat it away like she had before. 

She pointed to the top of the building. “There’s a door up there.”

“Hold onto me.” Marinette wrapped her arms around his neck and he vaulted up to her roof. She fumbled with the lock on the trap door, so Chat unlocked it and helped her get down. He followed her. 

She kicked her shoes off slowly and set her purse on the floor. “I’ll be right back,” Chat said. 

He quietly padded down the stairs to her kitchen. He had always loved the Dupain-Cheng house. It was so cozy and warm. You could feel the love this family had for each other. He would have given anything for his family to be like that again. He filled a glass full of water as silently as he could and carried it back upstairs.

Marinette was already under the covers by the time Chat got back. She blinked at him as he set down the glass of water on her side table. 

“Drink that whole thing when you wake up,” Chat said.

“Why can’t I just tell him?” Marinette said, almost to herself.

“Tell who, what, princess?” He said, brushing the hair back from her forehead.

“Tell Adrien that I love him.” 

Chat’s hand stopped moving. Marinette’s eyes closed. She probably wouldn’t remember any of this tomorrow. But Chat would. 

His chest felt light, like he had all of a sudden forgotten how to breathe. Everything made sense: how awkward and shy she was around him, how upset she was tonight after learning that he had kissed Chloe.

In that moment, his heart swelled for her. She had been in front of his eyes all along, a wonderful person who cared about him. He bent down and kissed her forehead, then jumped out of the trapdoor, leaving the girl who loved him to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm going to be posting updates at least once a week. Feel free to comment and leave kudos!


	2. A Hope

Marinette knew she had a headache before she even opened her eyes. She groaned as she slowly peeled her eyelids open. The glow of late morning light was illuminating her room. 

There was a glass of water on her bedside table. The whole night came rushing back to her in an instant. She sat up and grabbed the glass of water and started to drink. The liquid felt good on her throat, but her mouth tasted horrible.

She laid back and threw an arm over her face. She wished she didn’t remember what happened last night, but she did. Adrien had kissed Chloe, so she had decided to get drunk. That turned out to be not such a good idea when she ended up throwing up in front of Chat Noir. He must have been the one to bring her home. 

Marinette pulled her sheets up to cover her eyes. She didn’t want to face today, she just wanted to go back to sleep.

“Oh, you’re awake,” she heard a small voice say from above her. She pulled down the covers to see Tikki hovering over her. “Are you okay?”

“I feel like I got hit by a car,” Marinette said. It was true, her whole body was aching. 

“Well, you’re not going to feel much better after I tell you what happened last night.” Tikki said, landing on her pillow.

“I remember most of it,” Marinette said, “But did Chat Noir take me home?”

“Yes, and you told him that you like Adrien.”

Marinette stared wide-eyed at the little kwami. She covered her face with her hands. “I’m never drinking that much again,” she said, “Do you think he knows Adrien?”

Tikki shrugged. “I don’t know. Everyone else kind of knows anyway, so it doesn’t really matter that you told him.”

Marinette’s phone buzzed. It was Alya. “Hello?” Marinette answered.

“Hey girl,” she heard Alya say in her usual chipper tone, “Did you get home safe last night? I tried to look for you but someone told me you already left.”

“Yeah, Chat Noir actually took me home. I had too much to drink and threw up, I think.”

“WHAT?” Alya exclaimed. Marinette had to hold the phone away from her ear, her head was beginning to hurt ever worse, if that was possible. “Chat Noir? You’re kidding me!”

“Nope,” Marinette said, bringing the phone back to her ear, “It was pretty embarrassing.”

“Well, you’ll have to tell me all about it at school tomorrow. Would you be up for an interview?”

“Umm, I guess so?” Marinette said. She didn’t really want to talk to anyone about last night, much less have it published on the Lady Blog.

“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow Marinette, make sure to drink plenty of water.” Alya said.

“Yeah, I know. Talk to you later.” She hung up and set the phone down next to her. 

Marinette sat up again and drank the rest of her water, then trudged downstairs to take a shower. After she got out she felt a little better, but took some pain meds to be thorough. She told her parents that she just had really bad allergies, as it was spring after all. They left her alone and she went back to her room. 

She was sitting on her chaise lounge, combing through her wet hair when she heard a knock on her window. She looked up to see Chat Noir grinning at her. She rolled her eyes; this was the last thing she needed today. He gestured up to her trap door. She shrugged, it wasn’t like she had the energy to protest.

It suddenly dawned on Marinette that she was wearing pajamas, but she didn’t really care. It wasn’t like she was trying to impress him. Besides, he had seen her puke yesterday, there wasn’t really any lower that she could sink. 

Chat dropped down through the trapdoor and walked down the stairs. He sat down in front of Marinette. “How are you feeling today?” He asked, his usual charisma waning a bit. 

“Like death,” she replied. 

“Yeah, alcohol will do that to you.” He looked around her room. She had luckily taken down all of her posters of Adrien after her shower in an angry rage. “Do you remember what happened last night?” He said, looking up at her. It seemed like everyone was asking her that today. 

“I do, surprisingly.” She said.

……..

“You were pretty upset last night,” Chat said, his heart racing, “What was going on?”

Maybe he had just imagined it, maybe he was just tired and he was remembering it wrong. He just needed to know for sure if Marinette loved him.

She pursed her lips and looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. “This boy I really like, he kissed someone else.”

Chat felt the same as he had last night when he heard it the first time: light and warm. 

“But I’m not sure if I like him anymore.”

The world stood still and Chat felt like someone had punched him in the gut. He didn’t even know how he felt about her and she was already leaving him, like everyone else.

He had always thought Marinette was cute, but he never let himself feel any more than that for her, because he had Ladybug. Or at least in his head he did. Now he had ruined things with Marinette, though, and he could feel the loss coursing through him.

Marinette stood up and turned away from him. “I mean, she’s the worst girl in our class. If he likes her then… whatever.” She said, balling up her fists, “I’ve liked him for so long. I need to move on.” He wanted to scream that he didn’t like Chloe. He didn’t know what he was thinking when he had kissed her. He had regretted it every second since.

Chat stood up and went to go stand in front of her. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Have you tried telling him how you feel?”

Marinette looked up at him. “Every time I try to talk to him, I just get so nervous,” she shook her head, “It doesn’t matter now though. Why am I even telling you this anyway?”

She turned away from him again and began slowly pacing. Her wet hair clung to the back of her neck, free from their usual double pony tails. She was chewing on her fingernail nervously. 

“I’m not going to tell anyone,” Chat said, trying to reassure her, “Who would I tell anyway?”

Marinette chuckled. “What, Mr. Famous Superhero doesn’t have any fur-ends?”

Chat laughed, “That was really bad, Marinette.”

She smiled. Chat felt a pull on his heart. He had never really looked at Marinette before like he was looking at her now. What had taken him this long? He had spent all his time chasing after a girl who couldn’t care less about him. He didn’t even know who Ladybug was.

Marinette’s smile, even when she was sad, brought light into the dark places of his soul. He had never met anyone else who could do that. She was funny, smart, brave and beautiful. All of his memories of her compiled themselves in his mind.

Despite all of his confusion right now, he was sure of one thing. He wasn’t going to let Marinette go. If she wouldn’t talk to Adrien ever again, so be it. But luckily for him, he didn’t have to be Adrien all the time.

“I’m so sorry, Marinette,” Chat said. Marinette’s smile dropped.

“It’s okay. I always knew deep down that it would never work anyway. He was out of my league.”

“Don’t say that,” Chat closed the distance between them and gently tilted up her chin.

……..

Marinette’s heart felt like it was going to jump out of her chest. It was just Chat, why was she feeling like this? She needed to pull it together. 

“You deserve the world.” Chat said quietly. His eyes met hers and she felt like she was walking on air. 

And just like that, his lips were on hers. Marinette closed her eyes and kissed him back. Her whole body was on fire and she couldn’t think of anything but him. His fingers were tangled in her hair and hers were on his chest. He was kissing her, open mouthed and warm, like she was the air he needed to breath and she had never felt so alive. 

As quickly as it had begun, it was over. He pulled away from her, both of them gasping for air as they pressed their foreheads together, hands still on each other. Chat closed his eyes, still breathing hard.

Then he stepped away, taking his hands out of her hair. He looked over her and then walked up the steps to the loft. He turned around and said, “I won’t tell if you don’t.” He winked at her and then he was gone.

Marinette touched her lips and smiled. God, she was stupid. But she didn’t care. This was the start of something new, and she was going to embrace it with open arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I posted a little earlier than I thought... What can I say, I'm feeling inspired! Thank you to those of you that left comments on the last chapter. Don't worry, I didn't forget about Chloe, we'll be getting to that next chapter.


	3. A Question

Adrien stepped out of the car on Monday morning bracing for the tidal wave of gossip that was about to wash over him. He had turned off his phone on Saturday night when he got home and hadn’t turned it on since. Maybe if he just ignored it, it would go away. Of course he knew that wouldn’t work, but it had given him a little time to prepare himself.

Nino was walking towards him. The moisture was leaving Adrien’s mouth at an alarming rate. They knuckle bumped, then Nino gave him a questioning look.

“Did you really kiss Chloe?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Adrien said, “But she kissed me first and it was a dumb mistake.”

“So you aren’t dating?’

Adrien groaned. He wasn’t exactly surprised, he had known Chloe his whole life and he also knew that she loved to manipulate people. “No,” Adrien replied, “Definitely not.”

When they walked into school together, he scanned the crowd for Marinette. Maybe if he could talk to her, he could fix this mess. Nino waved at someone and Adrien followed his line of sight. He was waving at Alya who was standing with Marinette. The two boys walked over to join them. Marinette looked to the side, avoiding eye contact with him. 

How Adrien wished things could be simple. He wished he had never kissed Chloe, but most of all he wished he had known how Marinette felt about him. Kissing her last night had been one of the best things that had ever happened to him, and she could never know that it was really him. 

Alya brought out her phone and started recording. “Adrien is it true that you’re dating Chloe, spoiled brat and queen bee-och?”

“No, I am not.” Adrien replied, glaring at Alya. She was journalist at heart, which was cool, but also annoying when he was on the receiving end of it. He put his hand over the camera lense and she put the phone away.

“Well, why the hell did you kiss her?” Alya said, hands on her hips.

“As I have said, it was a mistake,” Adrien was getting really tired of this, “And she kissed me first, it’s not my fault.”

“Oh no lover boy,” Alya said, taking a step towards him, “You’re not getting off that easy. We all saw it. You definitely kissed her back.”

Adrien threw up his hands. “It was just a kiss!” He exclaimed, “It didn’t mean anything.”

Alya shook her head and walked to their classroom, dragging Marinette with her. Marinette’s jaw was tight and her forehead was scrunched together. She was upset. He had to do something.

He caught her hand as she was leaving. She turned around and looked at him, confused. Yanking her hand away she said, “What do you want?”

“Can I talk to you alone for a minute?” He asked her. She shrugged and waved Alya on. Nino went with her.

“What, Adrien?” She said, reminding Adrien of the first time he met her. She had thought he was putting gum on her chair. 

“Are you okay?” He asked. He didn’t want to give away that he knew she liked him. 

“Yeah, I am,” she said, meeting his eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes, the ones that had sparkled so brightly after he had kissed her, were now filled with annoyance. “I’m fantastic actually. But you’re acting like an idiot, Adrien.”

With that, she turned on her heels and walked away from him. Adrien sighed. This day was not going as well as he had hoped. 

When he walked into the classroom, he was greeted by a piercing, “Adrikins!” Chloe threw her arms around his neck, hugging him.

“How are you today, boyfriend?” She said, looking at him now. Adrien used to have some sympathy for her, a soft spot. He thought she wasn’t as completely horrible as everyone said she was. This kissing ordeal however, had proved him wrong. Maybe there was hope for her to be a nice person someday if she stopped being selfish and manipulative, but today, Adrien didn’t want to have anything to do with her. 

He removed her arms from around his neck and stepped back from her. “I’m not your boyfriend Chloe, and stop telling everyone I am.” Adrien turned his back to her and walked to his desk. 

“But…” Chloe said, dumbfounded, “I was your first kiss!”

I’ve had better. Adrien thought to himself. 

……..

It was just a kiss. Adrien’s words echoed in Marinette’s head all day. 

She tried to pay attention in class but she just couldn’t. What was going on with her and Chat Noir? I mean sure, she had always thought he was cute, but she loved Adrien. She knew she didn’t anymore, though. 

If Adrien had asked to talk to her alone last week, she would have been ecstatic. Today though, it just bugged her. Now that she was getting over him, he decided to pay special attention to her? She might not be good at romance, but she wasn’t an idiot. That wasn’t okay. 

What was she going to do about Chat Noir? She had really like kissing him, but was that all it was to him? Just a kiss, and done?

Alya nudged her elbow. Marinette looked up at her, eyebrows raised in question. Her friend darted her eyes down at Marinette’s notebook. In addition to notes, it was filled with doodles of cat ears. Alya raised her eyebrows suggestively at Marinette. 

Marinette rolled her eyes. There was no way she was telling Alya anything. Even if she wanted to, she was pretty sure Chat didn’t want anyone to know. She didn’t realize she had been doodling; another slip-up like that and the truth could come spilling out.

Just thinking about Saturday. She wrote in Alya’s notebook.

You okay? We haven’t really talked about it. Alya wrote back. Marinette smiled and nodded. She was okay.

That night, Marinette lay on her bed, trying to deny that she wanted Chat to come over. She would totally be fine if he didn’t, right? She would just spend all day tomorrow trying to figure out what that kiss meant. Her heart felt fluttery with nervousness and anticipation. 

“Marinette, you’ve got it bad.” Tikki said, hovering next to her. Marinette rolled over to look at her.

“Tikki,” she replied, “What do I do?” Her kwami really was the only person she could ask about this. No one else could know. 

“He likes you Marinette,” the little creature said, “Just talk to him.” Marinette sighed.

Then, she heard a knock on the trapdoor above her. She looked wide eyed at Tikki who gave her a smile and disappeared. Marinette took a deep breath, sat up and opened the door.

Chat’s head popped down through the opening. He gave her a toothy grin. “Good evening princess. Can I come in?” Marinette nodded nervously and Chat dropped onto her bed. 

“Chat…” Marinette started to say. Why was she so nervous? It wasn’t like how she was nervous with Adrien- she could actually think and speak- it was something new. The energy between the two of them was overwhelming.

“Yes?” He said, tilting his head to the side. 

“Did our kiss mean something to you?” She said quickly.

“It meant everything to me Marinette,” he said, caressing her cheek, “Don’t worry about that.”

“I think I like you a lot, kitty.” She said, quietly. 

“I like you too, princess.”

“What are we doing?” Marinette asked. She wanted them to be on the same page.

Chat held her hand in his own and studied it. “All I can offer you right now is midnight rendezvous when I don’t have other hero duties,” he brought her hand up to his mouth and kissed it, looking into her eyes. “And I’m offering you my heart.”

Marinette felt something heat up inside of her.

……..

Marinette pressed a tentative kiss against his lips, and then pulled away. “I’m offering you my heart, too.”

He kissed her again, harder this time. Her lips moved under his and he could feel her hunger. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She was sitting on his lap, arms draped around his neck. 

He ran his tongue lightly along her lower lip as his hands slipped under the hem of her night shirt and pressed against her bare back. Her grip around him tightened, if that was possible. She plunged her hands into his hair and arched her back. Chat purred a little. She was so intoxicating.

He left her lips and began kissing her neck, testing how far he could go before he left a mark. He left only one or two, a nice treat for him to see at school tomorrow. His hands ran up the smooth curve of her body as their lips crashed together again.

Lowering Marinette back onto her pillows, he ground his hips into hers. She let out a small moan which was swallowed by his mouth. He grabbed one of her hands and held it above her head as he moved against her again.

Marinette lightly bit his lips and moved her hips to meet his. Chat moved his other hand to her chest and cupped her boob, taking her nipple between his fingers. He cursed his leather suit right now, wishing he could be against her bare skin. 

……..

She lost herself in the pleasure. Chat brought out something inside her that she didn’t know was there. She ground her hips into his erection again, reveling in the fact that she had caused that. Moaning, Marinette felt something building up inside of her. 

Chat’s hand moved from her boob down to the waistband of her pajama shorts, teasingly running a finger across the exposed skin above it. Her body felt tight in anticipation. Then he dipped his fingers under her underwear and touch her. She gasped into his mouth.

He moved to kiss her neck as his fingers moved in circles against her clit. She closed her eyes and her head fell back. Whatever it was inside her was coiling up tighter and tighter. His touch, his mouth on her, it was all too much. She moaned as she orgasmed against Chat’s hand. And then it was done.

Chat removed his hand from her pants and kissed her lips sweetly. “Enjoy yourself?”

“What do you think?” Marinette said, chuckling as he flopped down on the bed next to her.

“I think,” Chat said, turning to face her, a smile spreading across his face, “That you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen.”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “You’re just horny.”

He laughed. “Well yes, but that doesn’t make it untrue.”

“I’m sorry I can’t really reciprocate,” she said, “But you have on an impenetrable leather suit.”

Chat shrugged, “One day I won’t, my princess. Right now, your pleasure is all I need.”

Marinette cuddled up against him, her head resting on his chest. He ran his hands through her hair and she smiled. She felt so content and happy. “This is a purr-fect night, kitty.” She said.

He groaned. “I thought I had bad cat puns.” Then he laughed and kissed the top of her head. Marinette giggled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like this becoming a daily thing, but no promises. Thanks wings_g_leviosa for being my beta, I love you more than Plagg loves camembert.


	4. A Problem

Adrien was finding it extremely hard to focus in class the next day. When Marinette walked in wearing a scarf, Adrien smirked to himself. If only she knew that the boy she sat in front of in class every day was the same one that was in her room last night. 

Luckily she sat behind him, as it prevented him from staring at her the entire day. He couldn’t put a finger on what he felt about her. It was somewhere between infatuation, lust and… love. When she laughed, Adrien couldn’t help but smile. Why had it taken him this long to realize how he felt about her?

With his happiness however, also came a feeling of guilt. He almost felt like he was taking advantage of her. If she knew who he really was, she wouldn’t have done what she did last night. Adrien sighed. Nino looked at him, raising an eyebrow. 

Adrien flicked his eyes back to Marinette. His friend nodded. Everyone had known Marinette was in love with him, except him. Now everyone just felt sorry for both of them, and Marinette wasn’t speaking to Adrien. He tried to distract himself with the fact that he could see her as Chat, but that just didn’t seem good enough. It felt hollow. He wasn’t being 100% himself. Making out with Marinette last night was fun, but he wanted something more than fun.

During lunch, Adrien went home alone and collapsed on his bed. 

“Why such a downer?” Plagg said, flying out from under Adrien’s shirt. “You were pretty happy last night.”

Adrien pushed his face farther into his mattress. “God, I don’t want to talk about this with you,” he mumbled, “It’s so weird.”

“You think you’re the first Chat Noir who’s ever done that?” Plagg asked. 

“Great, even you’re more experienced with women that I am.” Adrien said, rolling over onto his back. He felt like an idiot. There were only a few way this could go, and all of them ended with him having his heart broken.

“You should just tell her that you’re Adrien,” Plagg said, “And then apologize. You didn’t know she liked you, so it’s kind of unfair for her to be mad, anyway.”

“I’m not telling her that Chat Noir is me,” more softly he said: “I don’t want to lose her.” 

“Ugh,” Plagg said, zooming away from him, “Teenage hormones.”

Adrien had to agree that they were pretty horrible. On top of all of his inner emotional turmoil, he was extremely sexually frustrated. That was another reason he wished that he was just Adrien around her. A boner in a leather jumpsuit was one of the most uncomfortable things he had ever experienced. 

“Am I even allowed to tell Marinette who I really am?” He asked his kwami.

“Do you trust her?”

“With all my heart.” 

“Then yes.”

Before class started up again, he pulled Alya to the side to talk to her. Luckily Marinette hadn’t shown up yet. 

“Does Marinette hate me?” Adrien asked her. 

Alya rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

“She won’t talk to me,” Adrien said, throwing his hands in the air, “Can you just tell me?”

“No, Adrien, she doesn’t hate you,” Alya said, “She’s just moved on. You were too late.”

Adrien’s face fell. “Would anything I do change that?”

Alya shrugged. “Maybe, but it won’t be easy.” With that, she walked away to join Marinette who had just walked in. 

Adrien felt a glimmer of hope. 

……..

Tonight was a patrol night, and Marinette’s mind was reeling. Soon she would see Chat again, but this time as Ladybug. Her two identities had never been this much of a problem. How could she continue to be the same Ladybug she had been before after what had happened between them? She sighed and checked her watch; she should get going. 

“It will be alright Marinette, just be yourself!” Tikki said to her. Then, Marinette transformed into Ladybug. 

As she ran across the Paris rooftops, she passed the the club where Nino had his birthday party. She stopped for a moment and let the events of the past few days wash over her. She had lost Adrien, but gained Chat. For some reason though, she really didn’t feel like she had lost anything.

All of the time she used to spend pinning after Adrien was now spent looking forward to the next time she would see Chat again. She felt more like herself now; she wasn’t waiting around for him to fall in love with her. It was freeing. 

Ladybug smiled and continued running across the rooftops to the place she usually met Chat. She saw him jumping across the rooftops toward her and smiled. Chat was very attractive: muscular, tousled blonde hair, gem green eyes. It wasn’t that she didn’t notice it before, it was just that it didn’t used to matter. Now looking at him as a landed in front of her, Ladybug felt her stomach flip. 

“Hey Ladybug.” Chat said.

“Hey kitty.” Ladybug said, smiling. They began patrolling their usual route. Paris was pretty quiet tonight, unlike Ladybug’s mind that wouldn’t shut up.

“Do anything fun this weekend?” She asked him casually. If only he knew.

Chat looked away from her and smiled. “I did.”

All she wanted to do in that moment was kiss him. Her stomach was tying itself in knots. She knew she should look away from him, but she just couldn’t bring herself to. Chat caught her eye, and she finally looked away, pursing her lips. 

She jumped to another rooftop. She had to stop feeling this way. They had a job to do, and even if they didn’t, as Ladybug, she couldn’t do anything with him. 

But all she could think about was the feeling of his lips on hers. Her hands in his hair. His hands on her body.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She had to stop thinking like this. 

Somehow, she made it to the end of their patrol without incident, but it hadn’t been easy. He had caught her looking at him too many times. She had stood much closer to him than usual. 

Chat was turning to go home when he turned back to Ladybug. “What’s your deal tonight?”

“What?” She replied. She chewed her lip.

“It’s like you’re flirting with me.”

“What’s so wrong with that, you do it to me all the time?”

Chat shook his head. “That was because…” He looked down. “I loved you Ladybug.”

Ladybug didn’t know what to say. She looked away from him. She couldn’t bring herself to say she didn’t have feelings for him.

“This is just great,” he said, starting to pace, “Just great. The moment I’m happy with another girl, you decide you’re going to start having feelings for me? After years of me loving you?”

“I’m sorry Chat,” she said. She began to walk towards him. She felt like she was going to throw up. Again. She didn’t mean for this to happen, she wished she could just tell him that she was Marinette.

“You’re so selfish,” Chat said, turning away from her, “I’m not going to let you ruin my happiness. You had your chance.”

She stood there as he left, feeling like she had been torn in two.


	5. A Truth

It was two o’clock in the morning and Adrien stood in his room fuming. He had loved Ladybug for so long, she had known that. Why did it have to be now that she picked to start flirting with him? Why couldn’t it have been a month ago?

Adrien transformed into Chat Noir and jumped out of him window. He needed to let off some stream. He jumped and flipped across the rooftops, running as fast as he could. He was running blindly. All he wanted to do was punch something. He let out an angry scream at the top of an office building. Still he kept running. 

He stopped to take a breather and looked around. Marinette’s house was just down the street. He made his way over there, a little more slowly now. 

He wondered if she was still awake. He used his night vision and peered into her room. She was sitting on her chaise lounge, awake. Chat jumped across the street and landed on her rooftop. He let himself in and poked his head down. “Marinette?” He whispered.

She jumped and turned to look at him. At Marinette’s wave, Chat dropped through the door and met her on her chaise. He felt his anger fall away when she looked into her kind eyes. He reached up and stroked her cheek. Marinette closed her eyes and leaned into his hand.

All of a sudden, all of the emotions he had been trying to hold back welled up within him. Marinette’s face when she looked at him at school. His father, ever distant and judging every move he made. Walking away from Ladybug how Marinette had walked away from him. It was all too much. 

He wrapped his arms around Marinette and buried his face in her neck as the tears started. She stroked his hair and pressed her lips against the top of his head. He felt so guilty again. If she knew who he really was, she wouldn’t be doing this. 

Chat pulled away from her and when he looked at her face, he saw that she was crying too. He brushed away the tears with his thumb and frowned. Why was she crying?

……..

Marinette stood up and turned away from him like she had on that day that changed everything. She knew why Chat was upset and she knew it was her fault. How had she been such an idiot? Every decision that Marinette made seemed to be the wrong one. She covered her mouth with both of her hands as a sob broke through. 

She had screwed things up with Adrien by not telling him the truth, and things were going to be ruined with Chat once he found out the truth about her. 

Chat removed her hands from her mouth and bent down a bit to look directly in her eyes. She couldn’t even be sad properly; she was supposed to be comforting him. The guilt was overwhelming her and she didn’t feel like she deserved him.

“Mari,” he said, “What’s going on?” 

Marinette couldn’t live like this for one more minute. She wanted to be with Chat, but she couldn’t lie to him. He didn’t deserve that. 

“I haven’t been completely honest with you,” she said, calming her sobs down. “I’m so sorry Chat. Just know before I show you this that I care about you so much.”

Chat’s brows drew together and her heart broke. She tried to take in everything she could about him before she probably lost him.

“I never meant to hurt you Chat,” she said, “I think you’re amazing and you deserve the world, too.”

Marinette took a deep breath and stepped back from him. “Tikki, spots on.”

There was a flash of red light, and Marinette was Ladybug. She looked up at Chat. His mouth had fallen open. 

“It’s you,” Chat said, “It’s been you this whole time.” He touched her face lightly. 

……..

Adrien felt like his mind had gone empty. Everything was clicking, but his emotions were stopped dead in their track.

He loved her. He knew that. He had never been more sure.

But he didn’t know if love would save him anymore. This was so messy, so complicated. He didn’t know what was going to happen when they woke up tomorrow. They only had right now, and in this moment they didn’t have to face the consequences of their choices. 

Marinette was Ladybug. Marinette was Ladybug, and he kissed her with an urgency that he had never felt before. 

They broke away, breathless. “What are we doing?” She asked him. Her voice. How had he not realized that Ladybug’s voice was Marinette’s voice?

He dragged his lips along her jaw. “Can we just have tonight,” he asked, his voice husky, “before everything changes?”

In response, she caught his lips with hers. He tasted tears, and he couldn’t tell whose they were. He ran his hands along the curve of her body, just like he had always dreamed of doing with Ladybug. 

He forgot everything except for her. Everything that she was was beautiful and all he wanted was to stay in this moment forever. His hands memorized everything about her body. His tongue memorized her taste. 

They broke away again, and he saw that Marinette’s tears were flowing even faster now. He was going to stop, but she pulled them to their knees and kissed him again. Her fingers were clinging to his back and she arched hers. 

“I just want this tonight,” she whispered, breaking away, “Tomorrow you can hate me if you want, but-” 

“Take your suit off.” Chat said. With a few words, she was her civilian self. He lifted her shirt over her head and began to kiss her neck. She gasped. The throbbing between his legs was getting worse and he grunted.

“Maybe you could take yours off too?” Marinette said. 

He wasn’t ready to tell her. He didn’t know if he would ever be now. But maybe…

“I will,” he said, “Only if you keep your eyes closed from here on in.”

She looked over him one more time, nodded, and closed her eyes. In a flash, he was Adrien. He pulled her towards him, touching her with his bare palms for the first time. 

He crushed her lips beneath his. He shivered as Marinette’s hands went under his shirt. He pulled it off, breaking their kisses for just a moment. 

Their half-naked bodies pressed together and Adrien sighed. Her hands trailed along his back, his chest: every bit of exposed skin. Then, she reached a hand to the growing erection between his legs. 

Every fiber of his being focused on that point of contact. 

Marinette unzipped his pants and pulled them down on his thighs. Then her hands were on his dick and his breath hitched. He broke their kisses and lowered his head to her shoulder.

Her hands were moving with a rhythm that was going to quickly put him over the edge. “God, Marinette,” he moaned. How was she so good at this?

He sucked at the point where her neck met her shoulder as he felt his orgasm building. His rapid breaths were in time with the movement of her hand on his shaft and her thumb on his head. Then it was done, and she swallowed his moan with her mouth on his as he finished. 

“Now we’re even,” Marinette said, her eyes still closed. But there was no way that Adrien was going to leave before his lady got her pleasure too. He gently pushed her back so that she was laying on the ground. 

He kissed a trail down her bare body, stopping at her breast for a bit, and then down to her shorts. He hooked two fingers on the waistband and pulled them down, all the way off. Spreading her legs out, he began kissing the insides of her thighs. He watched her stomach contract, her eyes still closed. 

Then he pulled her body closer to him and he ran his tongue along her folds. Marinette let out a loud breath. When she moaned, he knew he had found the sweet spot. The noises she made almost made him hard again.

He moved his tongue in quickening circles as her hips bucked. She put a hand on his head and knotted her fingers in his hair. He slipped a finger into her hole and began pumping in and out. 

Marinette’s knees bent and she moaned even louder. Her grip on his hair tightened and she came against his tongue. He kept going until it was completely over. 

He put his shirt on, wiped off his face and hands on it, and transformed back into Chat Noir. 

“You can open your eyes now,” he said quietly. She sat up and looked at him. She sighed, but this time out of sadness rather than pleasure.

“I guess this is goodbye?” She said, looking down.

“I just need some time to think, princess.” He said, lifting her chin up. She nodded and he stood up and left her sitting there naked on the floor. As hard as he tried not to, he looked back. Marinette’s eyes were following him, a single tear shining in the moonlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to get better at smut, don't hate me please. Thanks for reading!


	6. A Reveal

Adrien slid down the door of the bathroom stall. He didn’t think that he could handle seeing Marinette today, not after last night. His face fell into his hands. He was trying to make their moment last as long as possible before he had to face the inevitable.

He loved Marinette so much that it hurt. Every moment he thought about her he felt his heart swell, a feeling that had only become stronger since he learned she was Ladybug. The way she had acted on patrol had made sense. It also made sense that she hadn’t reciprocated his flirting as Chat Noir; she had already been in love with him as Adrien. 

How could she ever love him? The angsty teenager who kissed girls like Chloe and couldn’t even get his dad to care about him. The problem was him. He couldn’t ever be good enough for a girl like Marinette. She deserved so much more than he could ever give her. 

…….

Marinette tried to pull herself together as she walked up the steps to school. She knew she looked like a mess, her eyes were red from tears and she hadn’t slept a wink.. How had she managed to screw up so badly?

Alya came up beside her as she walked in. Her friend took one look at Marinette and steered her towards the girl’s bathroom. She leaned against a sink as Alya gave her a concerned look.

“Girl, what happened?” She asked. Marinette looked away. It wasn’t like she could tell her, and she honestly didn’t have the energy to make something up. So, she just shrugged. 

“Seriously Marinette?” Her friend rolled her eyes. “I’m just trying to help. You could at least tell me what’s going on.”

Marinette pressed her hands hard against the side of the sink. She stared blankly at her feet as her eyes began to cloud with tears. She felt Alya’s arms wrap around her in a hug. 

“Woah, I’m sorry Mari,” Alya said, “It’s just hard when you don’t talk to me about things, you know? I don’t want to make you cry, though.”

Marinette had been crying so much lately, and she hated it. She was Ladybug, she was supposed to be stronger than this. She looked up at her friend, wiping away her tears as she did so. Alya gave her a small smile.

“Thanks Alya,” she said, “I know… I know this must be frustrating, but I can’t tell you what’s going on right now. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Marinette saw from her face that it wasn’t completely fine, but for now she would take it. She sighed in relief as Alya led them out of the bathroom. 

Marinette regretted her intense lack of sleep when she was awoken from a mid-class nap. She heard a loud “Marinette!” from her teacher as her head fell from the fist she was resting it on. She blinked at the students now staring at her. Her teacher just shook her head and went back to the lesson. 

She looked in front of her, making eye contact with Adrien who was staring at her with a sad look in his eyes. She swallowed and turned away from him. 

As soon as it was time for lunch, she walked home as fast as her legs would carry her. There were only two things that she needed: some time away from prying eyes and a nap. She mumbled something to her parents about homework she needed to do, and headed for her room. 

She collapsed on her bed, having dropped her backpack on the floor below. She curled up and shut her eyes, wanting to welcome sleep with open arms. A loud noise from Tikki however made Marinette startle and sit up.

“Tikki?” she asked, “What’s going on?” Two small creatures shot up to her loft. One of them was Tikki, and one was a small black cat she had never seen before.

“Umm, Tikki?” Marinette asked, eyeing the newcomer, “What’s going on?”

“I’m Plagg,” the little cat said, “Chat Noir’s kwami.”

“I think he snuck here in your backpack.” Tikki said, glaring at him.

“Good to see you too Tikki,” Plagg said jokingly.

The ladybug kwami rolled her eyes, “I saw you last night.”

Plagg chuckled and Marinette coughed, trying not to think about what the little kwami may have witnessed. 

“So, why exactly are you here?” Marinette asked, blushing. Plagg’s tiny form resting in her outstretched hands.

“Marinette, you have to talk to Chat,” he said, floating up to eye level, “He’s a mess.”

“He’s a mess?” Marinette asked, confused. She expected him to be mad, maybe so mad that he would never talk to her again, but not a mess.

“He loves you,” Plagg said.

“Not anymore he doesn’t.” she said, looking away. 

Plagg groaned. “You kids are so blind sometimes. He was shocked that you were Ladybug, he didn’t know what to do. Now, he just thinks he isn’t good enough for you.”

Marinette drew her brows together. This wasn’t making any sense. She was the one who had screwed up and taken too long to realize that she loved him. 

“He thinks he’s not good enough for me?” she questioned, “Why?”

Tikki and Plagg exchanged a knowing glance. “You need to talk to him yourself.” Her kwami said, touching her hand lightly. 

“Be at the top of the Eiffel Tower at midnight,” Plagg said, “I’ll make sure he’s there.”

……..

“No Plagg,” Adrien said, crossing his arms and turning away from his kwami, “I’m not going.”

“Come on kid, what’s the worst that could happen?” he asked, flying around to face Adrien.

“Let’s see, I tell her I’m Adrien, she tells me that I’m a horrible person and that she never wants to see me again. Then I’ll never be able to work with her again, or if I do, she’ll let me get killed by an akumatized villain,” Adrien said, “and even if I don’t die, she’ll still hate me.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. And, she’s probably thinks you hate her too with the way you left her last night.” Plagg said.

Adrien groaned and put a hand to his forehead. As much as he hated to admit it, Plagg was right. Marinette looked like a wreck today at school, and he hated the fact that it was because of him. No matter how hard this was going to be for him, he had to tell Marinette the truth. 

“Fine,” he said with a sigh, “I’ll go.”

……..

Marinette stood on the highest observation deck of the tower, pacing. She knew that this was the right thing to do, but every instinct told her to bolt. Plagg must have gotten something wrong, she thought. She was the one who had messed up. 

A movement caught her eye, and Marinette looked down to the street below. Chat had started scaling the tower. She swallowed, stepping back.

Chat was there in no time, perching himself on the guard rail. They met each other's eyes, then looked away. 

“Marinette,” he said at the same time as she said, “Chat,”. 

He got up from the guard rail and stood in front of her. He placed his hands on her shoulders but wouldn’t meet her eyes still.

“There’s something I need to say,” he pressed his forehead to hers, “Marinette, you are the most beautiful, talented, smart, amazing girl I have ever met. You and Ladybug being one in the same makes so much sense, and I’m not mad at all. Not even a little bit. You’re everything I could ever want.”

Marinette took his face in her hands and made him look at her. His eyes glistened with tears, and Marinette’s heart was in her throat. “I’m not,” she whispered, “I’m a clutz, I have horrible timing, I can’t seem to ever do the right thing, and I took too long to fall for you.”

Chat bit his lip. “No, Marinette,” he said. He took away his hands from her and stepped back. “I’m the one who took too long to fall for you.”

There was a flash of green light and Marinette shielded her eyes. When she looked again, the emerald eyes that held her gaze were familiar in more ways than one. 

In a moment, everything made sense to her.

Adrien Agreste looked like he was about to breakdown. Marinette walked slowly towards him. The most perfect boy in the world stood, staring at her as she did. They had both made mistakes. They had both stumbled. She couldn’t be more happy about that, because it had led them both right here, to this moment.

Marinette stood on her toes and kissed the love of her life. 

They had had their moments of lust, but this was something different. When she broke away from him, a laugh bubbled out of her. “You’re an idiot Adrien Agreste.”

He looked crestfallen. She touched his cheek lightly and smiled at him. “I love you. Why would you ever think that I wouldn’t?”

……..

Adrien let loose a breath and laughed. He and Marinette laughed, and it was the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. He wrapped his arms around her waist and spun her in a circle, with a slightly startled noise from Marinette.

He kissed her again, something he thought he wouldn’t get to ever do again. He couldn’t think of a moment in his life where he had been happier. She was everything to him. She was sunshine and warmth and coming home. 

He broke away to look at her. Her eyes were shining up at him and he smiled.

“I love you, Marinette,” he said, “I love you and all of your imperfections. The only thing that I will ever ask in return is for you to love me and mine.”

“No matter how many times we screw up, I will always be here.” She stood on her toes and planted a kiss on his forehead. “You are my partner in crime, and the one I’m lucky enough to love. I wouldn’t ever change it.”

“I’m never going to let you go, princess.” 

He kissed her above the shining lights of the city and he knew in his heart that it was true. He had made so many mistakes, but they had led him straight to her. In that moment, everything was perfect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I've been away for a while. I'm sorry about that, but hey, I finished it! Thank you so much to those of you who have stuck around for this long. I'm going to be starting (and completing) more stories this summer, so subscribe to me for updates. I love you all, I hope you enjoyed In A Moment!


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